Button-fastener



(No Model.)

B. H,- WHEELER. BUTTON PASTENER.

No. 462,023. Patented Oct. 27, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBINSON H. \VHEELER, OF SAUGATUOK, CONNECTICUT.

BUTTON-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,023, dated October 27, 1891.

Application filed March 2, 1891. Serial No. 383,366. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBINSON II. WHEEL R, of Saugatuck, in the county of Fair-field and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Button-Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, andwhich said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, ill- Figure 1, a view partlyin elevation and partly in section of a button-fastener constructed in accordance with my invention, together with such a button as it is designed to be combined with; Fig. 2, a View partly in section and partly in elevation of the said button-fastener and button after they have been combined and attached to a piece of fabric; Fig. 3, a detached view of the shank of the button-fastener; Fig. 4, a similar view of the retaining-ring; Fig. 5, a similar view of the cap of the fastener in its blank form; Fig. 6, a similar view of the shank of another form which my improved fastener may assume; Fig. 7, a sectional view of the modified fastener; Fig. 8, a detached view of the independent bevel of its shank; Fig. 9, a view in elevation of the modified fastener.

My invention relates to an improvement in button-fasteners, the object being to produce an article constructed to both perforate the fabric for the reception of the button-shank and expand'the same in coupling the button head and fastener together, the said buttonfastener to be used in combination with a button-head having a flange of larger diameter than its neck to form a foot to rest upon the fabric.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

As shown in Fig. l of the drawings, the shank A of the fastener is pointed at its outer end, so as to readily perforate the fabric and constructed with a sufficient taper A at its inner end or base to spread the expansible split cylindrical shank B of the buttonhead B, which has a flange 13 of larger diametcr than its neck 13 the said button-head and neck and flange and shank forming the button proper and the shank being longer than the fabric to which the button to be applied is thick. A conical retaining-ring 0, having its inner edges turned inward, is arranged to encircle and stand above the bevel A at the base ofthe pointed shank A, with a sufficientspace between its inner edges and the said bevel to permit the split cylindrical shank B to readily pass into the space inclosed by the ring, the outer edges whereof rest upon the inner face of the head A of the shank A. Acap D, placed against the outer face of the head A has its edges clasped over the outer edges of the retaining-ring 0, whereby the same is secured in place.

In using this fastener the button head and fastener are placed upon the opposite sides of the fabric F, as shown by Fig. 2 of the drawings. The point of the fastener is then pressed against the cloth, which it perf-orates, and then, entering the shank B of the button-head B, guides the said shank in passing through the aperture which it has formed in the cloth. As soon as the button-shank is engaged with the bevel A at the base of the shank of the fastener it is gradually spread thereby until the button and fastener are locked together, as shown in the said figure, in which the retaining-ring and the shank of the fastener couple the button-head with the fastener. This construction avoids the 11ecessity hitherto experienced of perforating the fabric independently preparatory to applying buttons of this class to it, the labor of applying the buttons with my improved fastener being much reduced.

In the modified construction shown by Figs. 6 to9, inclusive, of the drawings the shank of the fastener is itself made of an ordinary tack G, which, being only slightly tapered, is provided with an independent bevel H, con sistiug of a small metallic collar having its center raised and perforated to tightly clasp the shank near its base. The inner edge of this collar rests upon the inner face of the cap I and has the retaining-ring J rested upon it, the said cap I having its edges clasped over the outer edges of the said ring J for holding the several parts together. In the modified construction, therefore, I rely upon a bevel made independentlyiof the shank of the fastener instead of formed therewith, as shown in the fastener illustrated byFigs. 1 to 5, inclusive.

In both constructions the fabric is clamped between the foot of the button-head and the retaining-ring of the button-fastener.

I am aware that a button-fastener substantially like mine, except in having a short thick cylindrical stem blunt at one end and furnished with a head at its opposite end in place of my sharp-pointed tack, is old; but that old construction involved the necessity of perforating the fabric by an independent tool, and then working the blunt end of the stem through the perforation so formed before a button-head having an expansible shank could be applied to it. My invention avoids those difficulties by employinga tack which is itself adapted to perforate the cloth, whereby my improved fastener becomes superior in convenience to anything of the kind yet made.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A button-head having a flange of larger di ameter than its neck and forming a foot to rest upon the fabric, and also having an eX- v pansible cylindrical shank longer than the thickness of the fabric to which the button is to be applied, in combination with a button-fastener composed of a pointed shank having a head and provided at its base with a bevel, a retaining-ring surrounding and standing above the said bevel, and a cap placed against the outer face of the head of the pointed shank and clasped over the edges of the said ring, substantially as described, and whereby the pointed shank perforates the fabric and guides the button-shank through the perforation so formed and onto the bevel on which it is expanded under the retainingring, which, with the said foot, clamps the fabric.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBINSON H. XVHEELER. Witnesses:

E. STERNE WHEELER, HENRY PETERSON. 

